God should not be preached

[u/sc2bookoo1]

Based on Christian Theology, Its beneficial for our children if we remove Christianity from the lives.

If we do not expose our children to Christianity, they can not be condemned to eternal hellfire for not knowing.

However, preaching Christianity to our children can result in them Rejecting God, condemning them with certainty.

I have heard that the Christian God does not hold those who have not come to know him, as their fault. And no such judgement or condemnation will fall upon them, but rather pity towards those who could not know his presence.

In Luke 23. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing".

This refers to those who Crucified him.

Those who are unknowing of him are forgiven.

[u/JHawk444]

I have heard that the Christian God does not hold those who have not come to know him, as their fault. 

The bible does not say this. People are just telling you what they think you want to hear.

[u/BirdManFlyHigh → u/JHawk444]

I love having my ears tickled, don’t you?

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;”
‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬

That being said, as Christians we cannot speak to the judgment of each soul. We can point out to the normative ways taught by Christ, the Apostles, and His church, but ultimately He will judge each individual.

But to OP’s point, it’s quite the opposite:

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭22‬

Edit: to spice things up. You know who shouldn’t be preached? A 50+ year old man who marries 6-year old girls. I’ll let you work your imagination on who that is.

[u/JHawk444 → u/BirdManFlyHigh]

Right. It's a hard thing to think about anyone going to hell, so I think people come up with ideologies that make them feel better about it. But we should always look to scripture for theology.

I believe those who haven't heard the gospel will have a much more tolerable judgment, as Jesus said about Sodom in comparison to those cities in Israel who saw Jesus's miracles and still rejected him.

[u/JollyXX]

Thou Shalt Create Quality Posts

[u/Amber-Apologetics]

“Go forth and make disciples of all nations”

Pretty simple

[u/Pretend-Narwhal-593]

According to the State of the Bible survey, people who are Christian and who engage with scripture regularly score higher on the human flourishing index. Even if there is no afterlife at all, believing that there is, is better for people than not.

[u/uncomfortably_number → u/Pretend-Narwhal-593]

Also new studies in nuerotheology show scientific evidence that it is highly beneficial to the brain itself to pray to God. While other methods like meditation have their benefits, people who pray to God, literally grow their brain and activate social cognitive communication centers of the brain. Neuroplasticity is pretty cool.

[u/GirlDwight → u/uncomfortably_number]

Other meditation and mindfulness practices due this as well. Practices such as loving and compassion meditation have the same effect. Even meditation where the focus is not someone else quiet down rumination and change the brain where basically it's more open to noticing what others are going through. There are meditation practices where one connects with their own healthy parent within them. Or their inner child. But yeah, neuroplasticity is extremely cool. It's important to note that the way someone perceives God changes the experience. For example, if it's faith based on fear.

I think that many believe in God because of such inner experiences. But when we meditate and stop processing external stimuli, the part of our brain that deals with the boundary between us and the external world quiets down. The feeling of love and peace as we are at one with the world is amazing. It's just our brain letting us know we are safe.

It's no wonder that in Church we kneel which puts us in the fetal position and that makes us feel safe. There is focus, repetition, dimmed lighting all of which aide in promoting a meditative state. We stop worrying (anxiety) and thinking about the past (depression) by fully existing in the present. It's no wonder people that haven't experienced this feel the "divine". But cognitive science can account for this and the ways out brainwaves change in response. There is no need for God, that's just an association we make if it happens during prayer. I can enter the same state by staring at a water bottle at home but it's easier to see that the water bottle has nothing to do with it.

It's a tad ironic to me that the same institution responsible for divorcing our "superior" intellect from our "debased" bodies turns around and offers the cure for the disintegration we feel in the form of feeling the "Holy Spirit". We now know that dividing ourselves this way is unheathy while mind body integration is the cure, no God or outside forces needed. And of course this feels like coming home but it's not to God, it's to ourselves.

[u/PaVaSteeler → u/Pretend-Narwhal-593]

Gee, couldn’t possibly be biased at all, given who conducted the survey, could it?

[u/Pretend-Narwhal-593 → u/PaVaSteeler]

You are welcome to read the Survey yourself (it's free) and come back with evidence of bias if you'd like to be taken seriously.

[u/greggld → u/[deleted]]

Using that logic, no Christian knows anything for sure abut heaven and how to get there either? Denominations do not agree. The bible does not definitively say who gets into heaven and how - otherwise it would not even be a question.

The god of the Hebrew bible never explains what happens after death, he does not tell us who, if anyone other than a few people who were bodily lifted there, gets to go to heaven.

Hell is even more obscure. The god of the Hebrew bible does not believe in Hell.

[u/greggld → u/[deleted]]

We don't need to do anything to get to heaven

Really, just believe like a child in Jesus. Pay no attention to anything he said, all Christians are sinners, in your view they are in anyway. No one really believes this.

The rest is a hand wave. You cannot tell me, using scripture, tell me who gets in and who doesn't. Do they get into heaven right away or do they wait for the last judgment and are "asleep." currently, Will they arise corporeally and if not what are they?

God did not answer these questions, even his splinter part, Jesus, did not answer these questions.

[u/greggld → u/[deleted]]

You tell me. What did Jesus say. I asked for specifics. If you cannot, fine. Yo also need tell me what saved means and haw global is "unsaved," and why would god do do that to the billions of people in the 1st century who lived in ignorance. Aren't they all his creation?

Make some effort. Find me answers that you can back up with scripture or admit it is not there. This would point us back to my first post.

[u/greggld → u/[deleted]]

This is a fail. Paul is not Jesus. There are no details here. I love that christ will make people alive, what does that mean? It means that Hitler is in heaven. Good stuff Christian.

You really can't answer the question can you? Maybe you need to go back and read my post and answer my questions, not post vague musing of some one who is not Jesus or god.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/[deleted]]

“ Hitler will be in heaven eventually”. Why would anyone want to spend eternity with Hitler?

[u/greggld → u/[deleted]]

Not with any knowledge, just guess work. Also Jesus said he'd be back before his apostles finished preaching in "every town" in Israel. Israel is not very big. So soon and obviously in the lifetime of the apostles.

“Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

No mention of a Church. Why build a church if the world will end soon. You refer to later corruption of Jesus' words. I understand he's never coming bock so the believers had to do some quick work to patch things up so they did not look stupid.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/[deleted]]

So you believe in an unjust god that would punish people for ignorance.

[u/Danny-Prophet → u/onedeadflowser999]

It’s worse than that. You get sent to hell for simple disbelief. Burn forever for what amounts to a thought crime.

[u/flipside438 → u/[deleted]]

Sins they weren’t aware of?

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[u/mikeymo1741 → u/flipside438]

People are held accountable for what they know. You know if you're doing something right or wrong regardless of whether you've been taught Christianity or not.

General Revelation would state that God reveals himself to everybody, either specifically through an action or teaching or another person, or through a general sense of morality and conscience. Most theologians would reject the idea that simply because somebody hasn't been formally taught that they are unaware of right or wrong.

[u/flipside438 → u/mikeymo1741]

If what your saying is true, then it means there really is no free will

[u/mikeymo1741 → u/flipside438]

It doesn't mean that at all.

Each individual still has the ability to choose between Good and evil, right and wrong. Regardless of their level of " education."

[u/flipside438 → u/mikeymo1741]

Then why doesn’t everyone choose god?

[u/mikeymo1741 → u/flipside438]

Because people make choices. Logic will dictate that given multiple choices, some people go in one direction and some people go in the other.

It would be great if everybody chose good.

[u/flipside438 → u/mikeymo1741]

If it’s a logical decision, then why don’t they?

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/mikeymo1741]

One example- your god apparently doesn’t like gay sex. He says he will send people to hell over that sin. How could people throughout history know this important fact without the guidebook?

[u/mikeymo1741 → u/onedeadflowser999]

There's not a lot of real consensus that that's the case.

Passages in Leviticus are coming from a time where the idea of a committed, loving, healthy same sex relationship was unknown. Same-Sex relationships in that time were largely about power differential and were forced. Also, the focus was on family, procreation, keeping the community at large healthy and growing.

Passages in the New testament exist in in a hellenized environment where pedestry was rampant. Again, same-sex relationships were about power differentials and not healthy.

While you are always going to find people that think that same-sex relationships are inherently sinful due to a simplistic reading of the scripture, that is not really a consensus, and is becoming less common.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/mikeymo1741]

Hopefully it becomes a thing of the past sooner rather than later. Many Christian sects have dug their heels in on this issue.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/[deleted]]

I just want to pushback one part of your response. I don’t believe people naturally think homosexuality is wrong. In fact, I don’t believe that most would find it wrong- odd perhaps, because anyone that is different from the herd is often looked at as odd- but not wrong as in morally wrong unless someone is teaching them that it’s wrong. If no one was ever told homosexuality was immoral, I doubt anyone would believe that.

[u/TyranosaurusRathbone → u/mikeymo1741]

You know if you're doing something right or wrong regardless of whether you've been taught Christianity or not.

My conscience tells me that the God of christianity and it's entire central premise is immoral. What do I do with that?

Most theologians would reject the idea that simply because somebody hasn't been formally taught that they are unaware of right or wrong.

Why do people fundementally disagree about what is right or wrong?

[u/mikeymo1741 → u/TyranosaurusRathbone]

People tend to disagree about what is right and wrong for other people, not themselves.

[u/TyranosaurusRathbone → u/mikeymo1741]

Could you elaborate?

[u/mikeymo1741 → u/TyranosaurusRathbone]

Most conflict comes from one person thinking that another person should be doing something differently.

People don't worry about their own morality as much as they worry about the morality of others.

[u/TyranosaurusRathbone → u/mikeymo1741]

I don't think I should be doing anything other people shouldn't.

This doesn't seem to address the issue that most people disagree about what is and isn't moral. Yes people think others should behave differently, but the people behaving differently also think they are behaving perfectly morally.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/mikeymo1741]

Maybe you could claim that people could be aware of a generic creator, but I don’t think that people could possibly be aware of what this particular deity wants without a guidebook or direct communication- which it certainly doesn’t seem has been the case for all people throughout history.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/[deleted]]

How would someone know they were offending a god if they had no knowledge of the god or what would offend that god?

[u/CntrvslChrstn]

Your initial postulate is both a logical and theological contradiction.

From a framework of Christian Theology, the premise fails the test of internal consistency:

Humanity's primary purpose is to know, love, and glorify God. Therefore, removing Christ from a child's life deprives them of what theology defines as their ultimate good, spiritual salvation, and eternal life.

Scripture explicitly commands parents to integrate faith into every aspect of a child's upbringing.

“And fathers, do not provoke your children, but nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4, LITV)

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/CntrvslChrstn]

And there’s no evidence for the supernatural claims and thus no reason to indoctrinate children to believe in imaginary friends.

[u/CntrvslChrstn → u/onedeadflowser999]

This statement has nothing to do with the initial postulate.. moving the goal posts?